4 Wheel Drivin'

Today Jackie and I went in convoy on an expedition! Two of our translators who are now based here have found new places to live, so we helped them out by driving some of their stuff from where it was stored here in the container to their new places. And man, we had some fun! Too bad I was too busy driving to take any photos!

We didn't go too far (only 6 km from our center!), but it was a real village road. Most of the way it was a tiny dirt track, winding around the mud and thatch houses. Since it's rainy season, the roads are all in terrible shape - mud, ditches, puddles, wash-outs... you name it, we saw in on this short little drive. At one point, I had to drive down through quite a pond, and then up a steep track on the opposite side which was all rutted and washed out. Driving these roads is one thing when you've been on them during the dry season and you have a bit of an idea of how deep the puddles are and where the ditches are... but going along them for the first time is a bit of a challenge!

At one point, I had to go around a blind corner, and all I could see was a huge mud pit in front of me. Since me and Jackie were in convoy, and I was in the lead, I stopped to jump out and have a look. Didn't look too promising, so we both hopped out and locked the wheels into four wheel drive, where I was happy they stayed for the remainder of the voyage. Imagine, I live in a capital city where I need a four wheel drive vehicle just to drive a short distance in town!

Anyways, it was was great fun! I like having these sorts of adventures now and again. And it's also really good to see where our colleagues are living. The one man is sharing a house with one of the other translators. It's a one room mud tukle with a thatch roof. The room is about the size of my parent's dining room at home. The other man is living on his own in a house made with mud bricks. His house has a tin roof, which is unfortunately going to be unbearably hot once the rainy season is over.

Neither of these homes have electricity or running water. They have to walk a few "blocks" to the local well to get their water for washing. They have water filters coming up on the truck from Uganda with our stuff, but for now, they are buying their water for drinking (which is really expensive), or carrying water with them from our place.

Keep in mind that when these guys lived in Uganda (where the translation work had been based during the war here), they had "normal" concrete houses with a few rooms, electricity, running water and indoor plumbing. Now they use kerosene lamps for light, use a small pit latrine a few blocks away from their house, and carry their water. I am absolutley amazed at their committment to their work of Bible translation. They have come back to their own country to be closer to their people, but they have made huge sacrifices in order to continue with their work. When the projects relocated here, they could have easily stayed in Uganda with their families and found other work. But they are faithful to what God has called them to do.

Please pray for Isaac, Enos, Bennet, Alex, Andrew, Amos, Akol, Ayiel, Hezekiah, and Andrew. Pray that they can feel settled here, pray that they will be encouraged to continue to translate the Scriptures for their people and to serve the Kingdom, even as they are separated from their families and struggling to find decent housing here.